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Understanding Computer Hardware: From Microprocessors to Memory Computer hardware is the set of physical parts that let a device run. It includes the brain, memory, storage, and the parts that move data around. Knowing how these pieces fit helps you compare devices and understand why a system feels fast or slow. The brain of the machine: microprocessors and CPUs The central processing unit, or CPU, is the main chip that performs instructions. It follows steps, makes decisions, and guides other parts of the computer. Modern CPUs have multiple cores, and each core can work on several tasks at once (threads). The faster the clock, the more operations a core can do each second, but real speed depends on design, cache, and memory. ...

The Fundamentals of Computer Architecture: from Transistors to Systems Computer architecture is how a computer’s parts are chosen and arranged to work together. It starts with tiny switches called transistors and ends with full systems that run software daily. The journey from transistors to systems shows how physics, math, and engineering affect speed, power, and reliability in laptops, phones, and servers. At the lowest level, transistors form logic gates. These gates combine into circuits that perform basic tasks like adding numbers or storing a bit. Designers translate this physical world into a language computers understand through the instruction set architecture, or ISA, which names the commands software can use. ...